The Usher

Ye7'rebeit Seneenak Ya Mustafa!!

2007-06-07T02:07:00.000+03:00

Lama te7es enak ensan.... Love edition

2007-06-06T01:11:00.000+03:00

3aref ya sa7by? law olteli 7abeet ha2olak 3omrak ma7abeet... aywa matesta3'rabsh, mesh asdi aday2ak wala a3asabak... laken fakar kewayes.... fe talta e3dadi olteli 7abeet zemeltak fel derasa ha2olak dah wahm.... 7ata wenta fe sanaweya 3ama kan bardo wahm.... 3aref leeh? la2en 3omrak mafakart en 7ayatak hatastamer ma3 el ensan dah.... yemken 7asal we fakart en howa dah el ensan eli enta 3ayez tekamel ma3ah ba2eet 7ayatak... laken hal fe3lan 7abeeto? sa3at bafakar feli fat washoof wa2ool eni 3omri ma7abeet, aywa ba3teref eni 3omri ma7abeet.... kol eli kont feeh kan mogarad tamseleyat law dakhalet mosab2a teksab gawayez... kedb we kheda3 we awham..... laken emta 7abeet? 7abeet ya sa7by lama 7aseet en ana ensan... 3aref enak mesta3'rab we mesh fahem kalami.... lama tela2i el 7ad eli enta bet7ebo dah bel nesbalak kol shi2 fe 7ayatak... lama betes3a we betkafe7 we bete3ra2 we betes-har 3ashan 7elm gowak wel 7elm dah howa el ensan eli enta bet7ebo.... lama tela2i nafsak nazel men el beet far7an mabsoot, mobtasem, bet3amel el nas ka2enak te3raf-hom men 20 sana... we kol dah 3ashan feeh fe dema3'ak agmal soora etrasamet, agmal loo7a le fanan... 3aref lama te2ool enak mesh khayef tekbar ma3 el ensan dah... enak 3omr makan gowak neya we7sha leeh... enak fe3lan 3ayez el ensan dah yeb2a shereek 7ayatak fel sa7 we beted3i Rabena eno yewafa2ak le dah... 3aref lama tela2i nafsak daye3, medaye2 we tela2i message 3al mobile te3'ayarlak kol 7aga... el message basita "malak ? wuts wrong? " lama mogarad kelma wa7da te7asesak enak fe3lan ensan we en feeh 7ad beykhaf 3aleek... lama te7es enak tefl 7ata law 3adeet el 20 be 7 seneen... ha2olak ya sa7bi 7eb laken abl mat7eb fakar fel 7ob eli haykhaleek ensan....

This article is dedicated to someone special......

Best Egyptian Ad EVERRR!!!

2007-05-12T21:19:00.000+03:00

Hope for Faith

2007-02-21T21:16:00.000+02:00

Recently, down on the Cairo – Ismailia high road, someone discovered a tree on the side road. Obviously, it wasn’t like any other tree you would find on the side road. This tree had markings on it that would seem like a part of the tree (naturally produced). These markings said in vertical order: Allah, Muhammad, Taha.

Soon this place became a second Mecca. People from all around the country travelled miles and went through dreadful journeys, to reach this so-called Holy tree. Some are currently camping there, with their food clothes and their kids, praying next to the tree, touching it for blessings and pleading Allah under its trunks.

After a few days, the police department decided to form a counseling group to study the tree and come up with a more sensible and surely believable explanation. Later, this study group came up with an announcement. Saying that “This type of trees, if scarred deeply, it produces a sap that would cover the “injury” and consequently after a while, the scarred spot would have a matching structure to that of the tree.” They also said that this tree is about 20 to 25 years old; however the scarring is not older than 6 months old. Though for some – more educated – people, they did not need this kind of explanation to make out the hoax. Other people never stopped asking for blessings from the tree.

Problem is, this is not the first incident of the kind. We all saw the Allah shaped carrot, the fish with Allah in gold on its side, same with the tomato, melon and all kind of vegetables. And people flock to see the “miracle” of Allah. A few years ago, and Iranian millionaire bought a lion form the Syrian zoo for a couple of millions. That lion is thought to say “Allah” in his roars.

Moses said there is one God who created the earth and the seas, a God who knows all, and is more powerful than the Pharaoh of Egypt himself. Who would believe such words? None. That’s why his stick turned into a snake and for the same reason he split the seas. God gave him and the people he’s guiding a proof. For the same reason Muhammad (pbuh) could split the moon. He needed proof of his words – that at his time – would only come out of an unreasonable person. But then when Muhammad died, Allah has given us all we need of knowledge to start thinking of the universe and our life and our fate. At this moment there are 1.5 billion Muslims around the world. It is even not needed of Muslim sheikhs to call people to Islam. Because no-one needs proof no more. We don’t need any golden fish or carrot to know that Allah exists. So, if Allah allegedly kept sending us “signs” from time to time to strengthen our faith. Then the whole concept behind heaven and hell is absolutely meaningless.

What I personally believe is that all Muslims have become weak and without strength. No political strength, no cultural strength, no even educational, civilian, or religious strength. We don’t have faith in any of our characteristics that we long for proof from others who believe in them selves. We like it how Angelina Jolie spends Christmas time in Sharm El Sheikh, and how Omar Sharif is known in the west. We like it how these people relate to us so we might build up some belief in our own believes.

We do that all the time we even made up stories about it. Let me tell you a few. Michael Jackson when he left U.S. to Bahrain converted to Islam and built a mosque. When Will Smith was filming the movie “Ali”, seemingly sat down for a while with Muhammad Ali and knew what Islam was. Consequently, he converted to Islam.

There’s an even better one. Neil Armstrong, when he walked on the moon, he heard a singing voice. Later on in his life, he travelled to Cairo and is he was in his hotel heard the prayer call and recognized it as the singing voice he heard on the moon. He asked about the voice and knew what it was and then. Guess What? He converted to Islam and was fired from NASA for it. They even made some epic quote for him concerning this situation “I lost my job, but I found Allah”. Actually this story goes really deep in some Muslim countries that NASA had to release an announcement on Armstrong’s behalf to be distributed to the U.S. embassies in these certain Muslim countries to make it clear that this whole story is a hoax.

The problem is not with the fish or the lion or the carrot or even the tree. The problem is with us. Not us Muslims, but us people. We need to drift our thoughts and perceptions form the propaganda that took away our faith. Our faith in our selves.

Links: U.S. Embassy in Jakarta Copy of Armstrong Denial

Onkosh Bel - 3araby

2007-02-12T17:37:00.000+02:00

We always came across attempts to establish a proper Arabic search engine. Among those were araby.com, and mersal and masrawy and what not. Recently, I cam across what may be the perfect not just Arabic, but - as they call it - English/Arabic search engine. Onkosh.com. However, all this is good, but what brought it to my attention is their exclusive feature. Onkosh Bel-3araby. Onkosh bel 3araby is a feature that allows you to search for Arabic links with Latin letters. Like searching for "gareedat al ahram", or "ta3leem keyada". They also have a page for searching in English. So, if u want to feel a bit egyptian on the web. Why don't you try it and "Onkosh bel 3araby".

Links: Onkosh
Onkosh bel - 3araby

IS IT CRAZY TO SAY

2006-12-31T01:14:00.000+02:00

1- that it feels weird when some girls use words of insult that some guys don't use?

2- that it feels weird when some girls smoke shisha and cigarettes?

3- that it feels weird when a respectable man is da2a adeema but a cool funky dude who doesn't even care if his fiance is around too many guys with no limits is highly appreciated?

4- that it feels weird when some guys use girls?
5- that it feels weird when some girls are not shy anymore?

6- that it feels weird when some girls don't place limitations in their relationships with colleagues, friends etc(especially male ones)?

7- that it feels weird when some guys only care about relationships for one thing only and when they get it they're like oh no, lets break up?

8- that it feels weird when girls start going out at 12 am?

9- that it feels weird when respect for parents is something not highly sought?

10- that it feels weird when some guys say "i don't like any one to harass my sister" but they themselves go harass other girls?

Past: is it a subject to argue about or just history?

2006-12-31T00:51:00.000+02:00

Hard to know what you want when you’re afraid of someone’s past. They say past shapes who you are now; all the traumas, the bad experiences and the messed up life you lead just makes you someone you never were before, or they keep you the same. Its hard to be with someone you’re afraid might be like a person who hurt you so bad that you don’t want this to happen again. It’s not like this whole relationship is going to be like a dark tunnel with no light at the end, no. it’s just that the light is hope that this person will one day change. The past is dead and decaying, some would say, why would I care for the past I am not that narrow minded am I? The other part of the globe would insist on knowing the past, what happened, why, where, when with what ramifications? A never ending story and a never ending pain that finds a perfect ground to sustain its existence. I am not with or against knowing a person’s past, it’s just that how honest and true is this person dealing with me? It happens that guys who did mistakes in the past are less tolerable of their companion’s mistakes that were like theirs. Why would you give yourself the right to do this mistake and learn and be less likely to accept your companion’s mistake? Isn’t it painful enough for the girl to have to carry the guilt and shame of doing such a mistake that you look to her and say “why did you have to do this?” if you are too sensitive about the past don't get into a relationship with that girl. If you really think the past is a subject to talk about then you'll live alone because most people have things in the past that they are ashamed of, everyone has a past. I agree that people should be open towards each other but this should be done with extreme care because one might get hurt to hear so many things about his/her partner. Each one has to make sure that sensitivity towards past doesn't exist and this is an "lets open up" session just to remove the guilt of not telling your partner everything about yourself. For a guy or a girl, maybe your partner is willing to change. Change was never a bad thing, yes it might make you feel like you're a bad person but doesn't it show how much you care that you want to change to a better person and that your partner wants to help you become a better person? I think the past belongs to history, its not ours to talk about and feel bad about, it felt good, it happened, its over and there comes the guilt. Being guilty alone shows how much you're a good person that you know what is right and what is wrong and when you do the wrong you feel bad later....... I just wish you all smooth relationships, good husbands and good wives

The Secret Is Out: The Voice Behind Pikachu!

2006-12-26T19:31:00.001+02:00

City Cab Services: Hello! I’m Blonde, How Can I help you?

2006-12-24T21:06:00.000+02:00

Last Tuesday by 02:00 p.m. I took a microbus from my university in 6th of October to Lebanon square, intending to take a cab to my home in Zamalek. Arriving at my first stop around 02:30 p.m. I started waving my hand for a cab. Of course, I was crazy to even think about doing such a thing. That Tuesday Al Ahly football team was on some kind of a victory parade from the airport to the club’s headquarters….in Zamalek. This subsequently made saying the word “Zamalek” to a cab driver that day was like calling him an S.O.B., no cab driver wanted to go there because it would obviously be crowded. So every cab I spot was either already occupied or just as they see me raising my hand they would change to a farther lane. That, or when they actually stop and I tell them I’m going to Zamalek they would,

1- Frown
2- Look away
3- Shake their hands in my face
4- And shake their heads simultaneously
5- And drive away

One hour and half later, I still didn’t score a cab. All that time, almost every member of my family was calling me screaming at me asking why I didn’t take a cab until now. By 04:00 p.m., still failing to stop a cab, I decided to call a city cab.
The previous day I spotted a Chevy City Cab with the number “16516”. So I decided to call that one. I called,

i- The phone rings then auto respond goes off
ii- “for Arabic press “1” for English press…” me pressing “1” without waiting
iii- “for ordering a cab press “1”, for custo….” Again pressing “1” without waiting
iv- THE MOST HIGH PITCHED CREATURE PICK THE PHONE

Phone lady: Alooooo! Ana Nermeen ya fantem!
Me: ahlan masa2 el 7’eir, momken a3mel order le cab
Nermeen: ah tub3an ya fandem …momken bas shewayet bayant
Me: akeed!
Nermeen: PHONE NUMBER, ADDRESS, FULL NAME.
Me: phew! 7aga Kaman
Nermeen: la2 bas ketah…7adretak te7eb el cab tekeelak fein
Me: ana fe share3 lebnan 3and Pasqua!
Nermeen: puss eh ya fandem
Me: pasqua, pasqua…pasqua café
Nermeen: Ahhhhh! Tub momken de2ee2 ya fandem (beeping tone)
………………………………………….
………………………….
…………………
…………
………
…..
..
Lady on the phone: shokran 3al entezar ya fandem ana Marwa
Me: ahlan (humphy!)
Marwa: 7adretak fein ya fandem?
Me: pasqua café shara3 lebnan…(offfff), bossy 55 shara3 lebnan
Marwa :shokran ya fandem

Marwa shuts the phone and I wait in the freezing winds in Lebanon Street. 10 minutes passed and I’m waiting. 20 minutes passed and I’m still waiting, so I called them again. After the whole stupid steps some high pitched creature answers again.
Phone lady: away ya fantem
Me: ana talapt cab men 20 minutes we lessa magash
Lady: momken el phone number ya fandem
Me: ok! (waiting)
Lady: ana asfa ya fandem ma3andenash order bel esm dah 7’ales
Me: OFFFFFF….tub momken a3mel order delwa2ty
Lady: momken ya fantem bas kolohom mash3’oleen we 7aya7’od 3al 2a2al nos sa3a, sa3a ella rob3.
Me: tub shokran 7’alas.

By 04:30 p.m., me furious and 7’alas badrab deban weshy, decided to walk – if I can’t stop a cab I might as well walk than stay put like this right. So I walked….and I walked…..and I walked..And I walked…..and I walked from Wesaya at Lebanon Street to Sphinx square, right at the city cab stop. I look around and I find THREE cabs just sitting their and the drivers having a cup of tea.

I got in the FRIGGIN cab, screamed at the driver, yet he so politely got me home and apologized for the “thing” that happened over the phone. So, that’s it. I was just so furious about this and wanted to get it out of my system. Thanks Y’ull.

When what you wear is more expensive than what you are

2006-12-16T11:15:00.000+02:00

Had a discussion with a good friend of mine about the declining value of human beings. I mean you go down, ride the car go to some nice restaurant and in the parking spot the valet opens the door "masa2 el fol ya basha 7amdella 3al salama" making judgements only through what you wear and what you drive. He might not even respect you for being a human being but rather show respect because of what you wear and what you ride. You might even go shopping with a friend of yours in some nice trendy shop and you find him/her saying "oh i gotta buy something fancy to make a nice first impression." People often look to you and through what you wear they say oh he's cool or oh he's a disgrace to fashion. Nowdays what you wear might be good enough to grant you friends not because of you are a really good Man or a really respectable Woman but because of all the guccis on top of your flesh. Even in Marriage, i've been in a class and i heard some comment because it was said really loud :-) "el 3arees; gazma we sa3a" it was really funny i mean tomorrow we'll find SOME(and please underline some because i am not generalizing :-) girls looking down and we'll think that they're shy or modest but in fact they're looking for the right shoe, which reminds me of the great actor "fouad el mohandes" when he usually looked for women's shoes and says "gazmetek bet3abar 3an gamalek" can't remember the exact quote but yea that's another point. I really wish i'd hear this statement from every father of a bride "e7na beneshteri ragel" mesh "e7na beneshteri villa we 3arabeya we shaleheen fel sa7el." i am not by any means telling you not to dress good because that's not the point. The point is next time you see someone dressed good or poorly, don't make judgements based on what you see. What is most important is what you wear inside that determines who you really are :-)

Loay Mohamedin to represent Egypt in Peugeot's annual car design contest

2006-12-12T20:57:00.000+02:00

Loay Mohamedin of Alexandria has submitted his car design to Peugeot's contest and is expected to know his stance in 8 days, if his car made it into the 30 cars category he'll need voters to vote for his car in order to make it to the 10 car category. We need to Vote for Loay Mohamedin......Check back for updates and voting days

3er2 El 7ayah 5

2006-12-12T18:47:00.000+02:00

Previously on 3er2 El 7ayah

Na2el (Shereef Beih’s Son) seemingly got him self in trouble with some girl and we learn that shereef Beih has decided to deal with it…Meanwhile we move on to another side of our story..New York

Now With Our New Episode of 3er2 El 7ayah

Shereef grabbing the phone anxiously: eh ya beih wa7eshna sootak.

Michelle: eshta2nalak 7abeebi…bas howa el sho3'l walla

Shereef: ana 3aref…we a7'bar dawud we adam

Sara looks down and frowns as she hears Adam's name. and subtly worried

Michelle: b7'eir el 7amdella..elly keif sara we 7'eeret el shabab

Shereef: al 7amdulellah….al 7amdullelah

Sara leaves the papers on the coffee table and walks away worried and thinking….(when am I going to get this off my back)

Michelle: tub 3ala 7'eir inshalla

Shereef: tub ya michelle wa7ashoofak fel safareya el gaya isA

Michelle (in a week masry accent): da 2ana ba2a mestaneek 3ala nar

Shereef: hahaha…alla yekremak ya beih

Michelle: benshofak 3ala 7'eir..3slamah

Michelle hangs up and looks at the door as he hears the sound of a key turning.

The door opens as adam - drunk - walks in a terrible manner.

Michelle (sarcastically): 3awein el 3azm inshallah…….ma ejet el sa3a 4 el fajr..feek teshrab kasein kman.

Adam: bayee ma feeny e7ky walla..beddy od7'ol we nam 3al saree3.

Michelle: noom el 3awaf inshalla…7esabi ma3k ba3dein

Adam: Keef ma bedak tesba7 3a kheer?

Michelle: we mneen yeeji el kheer? Roo7 roo7

In the Trump tower, Manhattan. Adam wakes up with a hangover and heads to the living room to find Dawud his brother and his father talking

Dawud: ya 3ayni ya 3ayni.. everynight is a saturday night for u mesh heek?
Adam: shut up….etrekni le 7ali
Michelle: beta3refo estaz shereef ra7 yeeji 3ala America we tab3an ra7 yedallo ma3na hoon bel bayt

Adam suddenly gets sober as he hears the news rock

Adam: We sara ra7 teeji ma3o....
Dawud: (in a judgmental tone) sara?
Adam: Eh..Sara we Na2el...2ewlad shereef...
Dawud: betzen enny ma ba3ref meen henne..haha

Adam looks at him with a frown.

Michelle: Fi shi ya Adam?
Adam: la pa ma fi shi...ta3ban sheway

Michelle: eh raje3li el fajer

Adam: hey i'm gonna walk for a while
Dawud: bedak eji ma3ak
Adam: nah...alone, i want to walk alone

(in adam's head: sho ya adam dalak 7abeb sara ba3d kel shi, dalak tefaker feha we lak beta3ref sho ra7 yesir: nothing, you screwed up)

Michelle looks with worry at Dawud.......

To be continued

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Gmail Lel Masreyeen!

2006-12-05T23:39:00.000+02:00

Good news fella pharaohs. Peter Schmidt (CEO of Google) on his last visit to Cairo made a very good statement. A very nice one. An announcement that made me very proud for being an Egyptian. OK...ehem ehem! Schmidt announced that the door for Gmail registration has been opened exclusively without invitations for all Egyptians (that is Egypt IP addresses). So everybody, just head on right now to www.gmail.com and get your free 3GBs Gmail account..Common GO! WHUT RU WAITING FOR!

Shattered

2006-11-05T21:59:00.000+02:00

I just thought i'd share this piece:

who am i, who is me
when will i be set free
to go and choose my way
right or wrong, i'd say
i thought that you were here
holding back my fear
but i was wrong,,
mistaken and shameful
i took that road again
counting every line
leading to my pain
i wish i had control
to alter that lane
yet i am weak
as a newly born child
i just can't get it out of my mind
who am i
a reflection of a beast
on shattered glass
something unpleasant
from the past.......

Black or White Encore

2006-11-05T21:38:00.000+02:00

You know the guy i talked about in the black or white article, he is someone i know and he did tell the girl about what he feels and first day he told me that she was happy etc then the second day she sent messages about how she's not his right type and how he'll be happier with another girl who deserves him better....well:

a- the girl doesn't want this relationship
b- the girl is sacrificing for the happiness of the guy
c- the girl is acting up

well whether A,B, or C when someone truely loves someone else i don't think he cares much about the negative aspects in that person i mean who care if you are messy who cares if you are reckless i mean maybe he'll change you.....second of all anyone who truely loves someone else is willing to change for that person no matter what as long as he's/she's comfortable with that change.....

seems like its much more easier to love pets than humans after all.......

Nasee7a Lellah (#2) !

2006-11-05T01:31:00.000+02:00

Don't wear your ugly boxers under a skirt if it is windy outside!

Leaving Comments!

2006-11-05T01:28:00.000+02:00

Hey everybody. I realized that stopped getting any new comments from you on our articles since we renewed the blog template. So I thought it would be suitable to place a guide on the sidebar to explain how to do it now with the new template. Hope it helps and we get TONS of comments from you. Thanks

NO CLUE!

2006-11-04T05:41:00.000+02:00

Him: "WHAT DID I DO?"

Her: "Yea. Like you don’t know"

Him: "DA HELL I DON’T"

Her: "Just think about it for a while!"

How many times did you stand in front of your woman or any woman trying to figure out what is happening and felt like a startled hen in a bullring? Well it happened to me a couple of times. It is just plain weird the whole wiring of a woman's brain. They always expect you to be some kind of a superhuman or a kryptonian with telepathy powers. It is like when you ask her what is wrong and she is like "FINE!" which by the way means that she is NO WAY on heaven or hell FINE by any means. Moreover, which means you have to squeeze your brains out to know what is really wrong.

I am not discussing anything in this piece because I really want answers. So please! Please! If you have the answer tell me. Why do women tend to be so mentally snobby when they are angry??!!

Black or White

2006-11-03T18:51:00.000+02:00

I've been thinking about relationships, types of relationships etc and i imagined this situation:

A guy likes a girl but he doesn't date her and he doesn't ask her out even though they talk nearly every day

why you ask?

1- the guy wants to make sure she changed to the better (not just acting up that she changed but really he wants to feel the change deep inside of her)
2- he's not convinced by the whole idea of dating (if he would tell her that he likes her, both her parents have to know, and if her mom only knows he won't be that satisfied)
3- the guy wants to enter from the door and ask permission of her parents to have her as a wife (in other words to propose) but he's still too young to take that step

so? what should he do?

well i think he should tell the girl about his situation and if she felt seriousness in him then there won't be a problem because there's nothing wrong if the guy likes you but he doesn't want to go against his principles or be in the black zone. It is very possible that she'll be like "but what i feel now is that you want to put me on the shelf till you're ready" i don't think that's the case, the fact that the guy is serious about it and just wants the whole thing to be right or in the white zone doesn't mean that she's on the shelf and it clearly means that he has clear and pure intentions.

for every guy who doesn't want to date but who feels obliged to tell someone he likes about his true feeling, just do it. The fact that you want this whole thing to be clean and not to be a subject of rumors and crap then you should check your intentions first, see what you want and when you see the rays of rightness, go ahead and take the step.

For girls, i would say just listen to the guy's point of you and if he wants this whole thing to be in the white zone as i said before you should be self assured that his intentions are good and please understand that there are no shades of grey its either black or white..........

The Yahoo! Time Capsule: One World. Many Voices.

2006-10-18T20:11:00.000+02:00

VIA YAHOO

Like everything Yahoo! does, it’s about you – our amazing users. We think there’s no one better suited to teach future generations what the world was like in 2006. For 30 days, from October 10 until November 8, Yahoo! users worldwide can contribute photos, writings, videos, audio – even drawings – to this electronic anthropology project. This digital data will be gathered and preserved for historical purposes.

In addition to submitting your own content, you can view, read, or hear the images, words, and sounds contributed by users from around the world.

You can also comment on the content you and others have submitted – and engage in a digital conversation that is just as revealing and important as any of the content you’ll witness.

And by November 8, you will have helped create a digital legacy of our times, a mosaic of revealing snapshots that will be sealed and entrusted to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings based in Washington D.C., officially taking its place in history.

Finally, to thank you for your contribution to the Time Capsule, you’ll be asked to help us select how Yahoo! will donate $100,000 to seven global charitable organizations.

Website: Yahoo Time Capsule

Nasee7a Lellah ( #1)

2006-10-18T20:08:00.000+02:00

Don't Excercise When You Have Gases!

3er2 el 7ayah episode 4 by M.Ayman and K.Zein

2006-10-17T20:29:00.001+02:00

Nazeg put down her fork slowly as she looked worried at her son, andturns her head shockingly to her husband. Shereef with a freezing look at his son.

Shereef: mestanny eh matekallem!
Na2el: asl uhh
Shereef: asl eh we fasl eh...matenta2 yabny
Nazeg: bera7a ya shereef 3ala el walad..7'aleena nefham

Nazeg softly holds her son's hand.

Nazeg: 2ool ya baby?

Na2el focuses his look on his mother now

Na2el: asl kan fee bent a3rafha keda...
Shereef: BENT...bent eh deee…enta 3amalt eh..ENTA2 2OOL!
Nazeg: matehda a shereef omal..kamel ya na2el

Na2el rolls his eyes up and down...
The sound of footsteps breaks the silence as Sara goes down the stairs and join them on the table.

Shereef: Ma LESSA BADRY YA HANEM!

Sara looks awkwardly and shocked at her father

Sara: ana walahy ya…
Nazeg: ALLAh ya shereef mat 7a'leena fel moshkella dee delwa2ty
Sara: how fee eh ya na2el
Shereef: estanny enty bas….kammel ya beih!

Na2el looks up.
Na2el: kan fee wa7da a3rafha men 7awally shahr wuuu….
He rolls his eyes down now..
Na2el: ana wallahy ma lamastaha…wallahy kollo kezb

Nazeg: ma lamastesh meen….ekallem.

Shereef returned home early and went straight to his office, Nazeg approaches and knocks the door
Nazeg: shereef enta fady?
Shereef: ta3aly ya nazeg

Nazeg enters and slowly closes the door

Nazeg: han3mel eh fel mosseba dih
Shereef: howa eli dakhal nafso fel moseeba dih
Nazeg: ana mesada2aah ya shereef. Ebni maye3melsh keda
Shereef: ya3ni enti shayfa keda
Nazeg: looks at him firmly
Shereef nods and says : tab ana hatsaraf
Nazeg: khaleek 7atet fe dema3'ek masla7et el walad ya Shereef..

Nazeg and shereef walk out the office and head to the living room as Sara comes in their way is holding a briefcase..
Sara interrupting her father and mother.

Sara: pop..i have some documents that need your consent

Shereef sat on the nearest sofa and sara followed him. Shereef reaches for the papers in sara's hand

Shereef: ana asef eza kont za3altek el sob7 makontesh…
Sara with a smile: ana mesh za3lana pop.

The servent walks near the sofa

Servent: telephone ya beih 3alashanak
Shereef: meen ya bayoumy
Servent: el sheikh michelle ya beih

Sara frowns instantly as she hears the name.

Shereef: tub hatly el telephone henna..

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Open your eyes, We're back at last...

2006-10-17T20:26:00.000+02:00

Hey fellow bloggers and visitors, the usher is back with the cool new template we'll be posting loads and loads of stuff and we need you guys to participate...... :)

Just a Sec!

2006-09-29T04:57:00.000+02:00

Hey everyone....we would like to thank you for your recent participations to our blog. And, I would like to tell you that our articles will be on hold for a day or to as that we are currently renewing our blog template. Meanwhile, help us by taking This survey.Thank you.

2006-09-23T01:25:00.000+02:00

OUR WORLD by Zain Bhikha

Amazing words...Amazing voice masha2Allah

Ramadan Kareem Everyone

2006-09-23T00:51:00.000+02:00

Hello people, Ramadan Kareem.....it is the holy month of Ramadan so seize the opportunity and get closer to Allah....demons are chained in Ramadan so no excuse :@ hehe just kidding (what is meant by chained is that demons are not able to instigate and mess in the Sa2em's brain and if he really is sa2em the devil will not affect him but if he's sa2em nos nos hehe then the devil will probably be able to instigate him to do evil...just try to get closer to Allah and you shouldn't only get closer to Allah in the month of Ramadan but in every month :-)goodluck everyone in winning the ma3'fera from Allah and i hope you all have good times with your families and enjoy this holy month :)

3er2 el 7aya episode 3 by M.Ayman and K.Zein

2006-09-22T19:53:00.000+02:00

In the luxurious Villa in sixth of October, early in the morning

Shawky: salamu 3aleeku
Servant: ahlan ahlan ya shawky, fetert wala lessa?
shawky: Ah el 7amdulillah bas wennabi kobayet shai
servant: men 3enaya

the house was extremely big, too big that Shawky was surprised, when he drove Mr. sheriff back home at night, it didn't look that big... French decorations are all around the place with signature art work and plates..it was truly an aristocratic house

Nazeg hanem goes down the stairs as she's talking on the cordless phone
Nazeg: Bonjour mon cherry (good morning dear), comment Allez-vous? (How are you?) Oui, Je lui ai demande (yes, I asked him..Non, ne t'inquiete pas (no don't worry) tenir bon.. (hold on) bayumi meen dah eli dakhalto el matbakh?

Servant bayumi: dah el sawa2 el gedid ya hanem
Nazeg: dah meen eli gabo?
Servant bayumi: sherif beeh ya hanem
Nazeg: ah ok...talking on the phone: pardon (excuse me) J'espere que je te verrai a deux heures? (I hope I'll see you at two o'clock?".... bon (good).....au revoir (goodbye).
Nazeg: bayumi, yalla 7adar el fetar el welad arabo yes7o wel beeh beyenzel el sho3'l badri
Servant bayumi: 7ader ya fandem, 7alan we haykoon el fetar gahez fel terrace
Nazeg: bon...feen el gornal
servant bayumi: 3ala tarabeezet el fetar fel terrace ya hanem..
Nazeg picking withered flowers from her expensive vase: eda ya bayumi ana mesh olt el ward yet3'ayar kol yom...el manzar dah mesh 3agebny abadan.. el ward yet3'ayar besor3a...
Servant bayumi: 7ader ya hanem

Sherif beeh whistling as he goes down

Sherif beeh: saba7 el kheir ya bayumi...feen Nazeg
Servant bayumi: el hanem lessa tal3a lel terrace ya fandem
sheriff: tab el fetar besor3a 3alshan 3andi sho3'l... shawky el sawa2 geh?
Servant bayumi: away ya fandem men badri.
Sherif: tab 3al

In the terrace over looking the wide endless garden

Sherif: saba7 el kheer ya 7abebti
Nazeg: saba7 el kheer....enta rege3t emta embare7?
Sherif: ya3ni 3ala 12 wa7da keda
Nazeg: ana mesh fahma bas eh el sho3'l eli beyraga3ak beetak nos el leel dah
Sherif: dah el sho3'l eli mekhaleena 3aysheen fel mestawa dah fa I would like less complaining please.
Nazeg: enta keda ya sherif dayman te2fel ay argument
Sherif: ma3lesh ya 7abebti bas enti 3arfa el sho3'l bel nesbali eh
Nazeg: bon
sherif: eh homa el welad se7yo wala lessa
Nazeg: ah Na2el se7i we nazel yeftar we Sara lessa mase7yetsh
Sherif: lessa mase7yetsh el hanem waraha sho3'l
Nazeg: bel ra7a 3al bent ya sherif
Sherif: heya fahma en el sho3'l eltezamat

Na2el enters as he dries his hand and throws the towel on the sofa: saba7 el kheir

Nazeg: saba7 el noor ya baby. Oom walad sheel el towel
Na2el: yoo mom ba2a later later...saba7 el kheer pop
sherif: saba7 el kheir... eh akhbarak?
Na2el: aho kewayes
Sherif: kheer malak?
Na2el: asl 3andi moshkela keda....

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

3er2 el 7aya episode 2 by M.Ayman and K.Zein

2006-09-15T14:27:00.000+03:00

Early morning at 7art el zatoon.el 7ag shawky is holding a cellphone wondering as he walks over to the grocery store

Shawky "wennaby ya gerges ya 7'oya shoofly el bta3 dah"
Gerges "alla alla ya 7ag.gebto menein dah, dah bel shei2 el felany"
Shawy "walla ma3raf..adeeny la2eto marmy fel tax"
Gerges "fee nemra sayba missed"
Shawky "ehel el mist dah?"
Gerges "estana bas"

Shawky startled kept staring at gerges as he pushed some buttons on da phone

Gerges "emsek emsek…adee beyren aho"

Trrnn trnnn

Sherif: "Alo"
Shawky: "Aywa meen ma3aya"
sherif: "enti eli meen dah telephone ebni MEEN ENTA"

9 at night at sheriff office. Sheriff ebih is sitting on his chair leaning backwards…holding his son's phone flipping it right and left as he gives a look of judgment to the man standing infront of him.

Sherif "enta ba2a 2oltely esmak eh?"
Shawky "ma7sobak shawky ya beih"
Sheriff: wenta sho3'lantak eh ya shawky
Shawky: sawa2 taxi 3ala ad 7ali ya beeh
Sherif: oli howa eli 3ala ad 7alo bardo beyraga3 mobilat bel alafat
shawky: ya beeh ana mardash bel 7aram
Sherif nods : 3al 3al, olli ya shawky sho3'lantak dih meraya7ak
shawky: radyeen beli ma2somlena ya beeh
Sherif: hayel, te7eb teshta3'al ma3aya
shawky: ashta3'al eh ya beh
Sherif: sawa2 ya3ni haykoon eh!!
Shawky avoiding eye contact with sherif beeh: wallahi ya beeh.....
Sherif: eh mesh ad el ma2am wala eh
shawky: la asta3'for Allah ya beeh bas danta 7adretak wa la mo2akhza awel mara teshofni
sherif: shoof ya shawky…ana a7eb el nas el mashyeen do3'ri
Shawky: Allah yekhaleek ya beeh
Sherif: khalas yeb2a etafa2na..enta matrawa7sh estanani bara 3and el secerteera we wasalni el beet
Shawky: awamer sa3atak ya beeh

Back at 7art el zetooon two hours past mid night fee bit el 7ag shawky. El 7ag shawky walks in slowly to his apartment hardly holding three brown bags of fruits and vegetables. Shawky slowly closes the door. He turns around to find fawzeya and farida in the dark around the table standing up surprisingly.

Fawzeya " eh ya 7ag el 3'eiba el taweela...2ala2teny 3aleik"
Farida "aaba 7'eir enta kwayes"
Shawky" kwayes?"

Shwaky wistles a tune for 7alim and laughes lightly

Shawky: "da ana zy el fol..we fol el fol Kaman"
Fawzeya: "enta shareb 7aga ya 7ag"
Shawky" eh ya wleya..howa 3ashan mabsoot 7abetein ab2a kafart"
Farida: "omal fee eh yaba fara7na ma3ak"
Shawky: "foregat ya bet"

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

3er2 el 7ayah - by K.Zein & M.Ayman

2006-09-08T16:09:00.000+03:00

Fel 7ayah namazeg men nas el sodaf le3bet door kebeer fe 7ayat-hom. Menhom nas el sodfa kanet ma3ahom we nas tanya el sodaf kanet dedohom we dah dafa3hom enohom ye2olo we yes2alo "heya leeh el 7aya me3andana?" Hatemshi fel share3 we tbos 7awaleek hatla2i woshooosh bel alaf, wesh etrasam 3aleeh el ham wel 3'am men yom el milad we wesh mel far7a el donya mesh say3aah. fe kol share3 we kol beet feeh 7adoota, we gayez yeb2a batalha sharek fe 7adoota tanya, el mohem en kolo 3aref howa meen we 3ayez eh wel door metfasal 3aleeh......

4 pm in the hot blazing summer and the streets of Cairo are crowded as always. People are heading back home after a long day at work. An old looking man in a '74 Peugeot 504 is smearing his sweat with his hands
As he says: "Efreg-ha men 3andak!"

A worn down looking man with a briefcase raises his hand anxiously as he
Screams at the top of his lung: "ZAMALEK?"

El 7ag Shawky doesn't even look as he said "la ya beeh ma3lesh"

He was heading home. El 7ag Shawky mesh taye2 el za7ma: "MATYALLA, ET3ALEMTOHA FEIN?"

He parked the car, locked it and as he was walking in the narrow alleyway in 7aret al-zatoon in the impoverished Sayeda area, he heard what sounded like a disturbing yet a familiar sound from one of the balconies.

The paper boy said "el7a2 ya 7ag"
Shawky "Homma el neswan dool ma byet-ha2oosh abadan?"

He entered his home rocking back the French door making a noise. He walks through a small salon with a small rounded table completely ignoring the fight going on between his wife and daughter. He headed straight to the bedroom and rolled his eyes and sighed deeply as he listened to the fight outside, then he jumped on bed.

Loosing patience he screamed "makfaya ba2a howa ana hala2eeha menko wala men el zoroof el hebab"
fawzeya enters "malak ya 7ag feh eh"
shawky: "ya3ni haykoon mali?"
fawzeya: "mesh 3arfa shayfak dakhalt wala 3abartena be kelma, mesh 3awaydak"
shawky: "wennabi yammo farida sebeeni fe 7ali Allah yekremek"

El 7ag rolled on his bed turning his back on her as she gave him a worried look and then left the room.

As if nothing has happened, Fawzeya continued her argument with her daughter.

fawzeya: "enti ya bet mesh oltelek matkalemeesh bent nabaweya dee"
farida: "we malha yamma bas heya kanet 3amaletlek eh ya3ni?"
fawzeya: "ana 3arfa heya betwezek 3ala eh"
farida: "eh yama bas heya betwezeni 3al 7aram?"
fawzeya: "ba2olek eh el bet malhash 3'er betha eli hatetgawez feeh, malna e7na we mal el 3alam?"
farida: "khalas yama ba2a ana dakhla akamel nashr"

Next day shawky heads to work after al Fajr

He starts cleaning his cab as he does every morning. He reaches for the floor mats and throws them out on the ground to wash it down. He does this without giving it much thought, until he hears the sound of something hitting the ground. He turns his head back out of the car. Looks down, and finds what seems to be a mobile phone in a very good shape.

To Be Continued......

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

AMERICAN CLICHE X

2006-09-03T06:53:00.000+03:00

If you can recall I have talked to you before about the theatre effect that hits most of us Egyptians exposed to the American cliche philosophy of a lifestyle. Obviously, I could not fit all the problems and none of the resolutions in one article. To most of you, this might not look like a dilemma, and may be I am just giving it too much credit. Nevertheless, it really is a problem. In my previous article "but never came out", I have pointed fingers at the American systemized schools or foreign schools to be exact as the culprit in this crime. However, I have been doing some thinking. We are the culprits. However, I need to point out that this discussion does not suggest that we are living in a dark world or that everyone is a sinner. This article means to discuss a problem we all witness.

While I was giving this issue some thought I recalled a discussion I had with one of my teachers once about the potentiality of a person to become an evildoer. It was a long discussion and at the end, we realized that for a person to become at some point of his life a wrong doer, he must be - somewhere deep inside - willingly condoning to this wrongdoing. No one forced us to adopt this life philosophy. Yes, it was there in front of our eyes, but we did have a choice. And we choose what looked better.

Although the expression is widely used, things do not just come out of the blue. When you come to think of it, the west has been conquering most of your life. When you turn on the TV, the radio, or even go out shopping, most of the time we are looking for the American touch. However, it is not because we dig deep for it, it is because it is always out there, and it is always the best. But is it true? Are we the culprits? Is it our fault that the face of the Middle Eastern traditions, ethics, and lifestyle is now nothing but a subtle memory?

So let us find the underlying cause of this. Recently all media started pointing fingers at the students of foreign schools and universities whom are introducing unorthodox behaviors and trends to our Middle Eastern society. Wearing western cloth, listening to western music, watching western movies, and even acting as if we were members of a westerns society. And guess what? They are right. We do all these things. We are acting as if we are members of a western society. We do like to dress the best. We do enjoy some fine tunes by Deep Dish or Eminem. But just wait a minute. Weren't Amr Diab wearing parachute pants in that video clip he made 20 years ago? Weren't Hussein Fahmy wearing aviator shades and Charleston pants in that movie he had in the late 70's? Weren't every woman back in the 50's and 60's were doing all her best to have an Ingrid Bergman look or talk lightly like Audrey Hepburn? Yes they were.

My point is that this has not been going for 10 years since the first American school opened or since private universities started spreading through out the country. This has been going for over 200 years now and may be more. Does this mean an American Cliche controls us? Yes. But also keep in mind that around 1400 years ago English men were studying medicine in Arabic, French women were waiting for the caravan to have the finest on most stylish fabrics from Yemen and Egypt. And all rich Europeans traveled thousands of miles to listen to some fine tunes of 'oud or Nay.

So may be you think this is wrong. May be you have a different theory were there is a mistake and there is a problem. May be you think we are making a mistake by condoning to the American cliches. But after all, we are not the culprits. No one is, it is just as they say "kol 3asr we lo awan". Just as well, we will not be as glorious as we were 1400 years ago being a sitting duck. Yes, bringing back our glory is not easy, but we can all start by having pride for our country and our traditions.

E7na El 7ateina lel Shams Sun Screen!

2006-09-02T20:45:00.000+03:00

I know this is not really a "The Usher" norm, but I thought I should share this with you. Around a year ago I stumbled across this program. It is called TVU player (as in tee-view), it is a live stream program where some users use to broadcast t.v. channels via it.

It is really good but of course it needs a fast internet connection (ADSL ya3ny, preferrably 512 but 256 will work just fine). The channels broadcasted on this program are mostly Chinese channels because most users are china men, lol. But there are some American users boradcasting a 24/7 live stream of American channels like NBC, CBS, , ESPN, ESPN 2, HBO, ABC, Fox, Comedy Central, and even Cartoon Network.

The quality of the stream is really fair, you can watch for hours and it won't feel like it is a stolen broadcast, haha. I just watched on it the Emmys last week on NBC and it was perfectly OK. At first when you click a channel to play it, it starts connecting, then it buffers for a few minute. So just for the first few minutes the quality would be jagged and pixelated, but as it buffers it becomes much better. Sometimes in the middle of a broadcast the image would freeze, then you would use the "Refresh" button to make it come back. There is also a "Full View" button to enjoy a bigger screen view, or you can double click the screen for a full screen mode. When I use this program I usually close all programs using the internet connection (IE, Torrents Programs, MSN, etc) so that I would have a better picture.

You can have also a list of your favourite channels so you would not have to go through a long list every time you want to watch your favourite channel. You have to keep in mind that each one of these American channels are "Local" channels. So that you would find that the ABC channel is the "ABC 7 " channel, and FOX is "FOX 11". So they have their own schedual, however the major programs are aired on the same time on all channels. I just watched the premiere of "Prison Break" on FOX channel a few days ago. So I wanted to share this piece of piracy with you, haha. However, it is perfectly legal to use it. You can download this program here.

Not for the faint hearted!!

2006-08-30T14:15:00.000+03:00

Criss Angel And Half A Woman - video powered by Metacafe

Kol Sana Ba2a Wenta Tayeb!

2006-08-26T19:33:00.000+03:00

You know everybody we're less than a month away from Ramadan – it's going to be September 23^rd. And that event brought me back a memory from last year. It was in the afternoon, and I was in my car waiting for Hassan Sabry's lights to go green – you know how it is there – and out of no where a hand just swoops into my window. A human hand that is, five fingers, each finger with a lantern hanging of it and I hear the epic words "kol sana wento tayebeeeeeeen!"

I know what you're thinking, "So what?" well I will tell you. IT WASN'T EVEN RAMADAN. For some reason, when people do something baddy or want to sell something "kol sana wenta tayeb" is supposed to solve the problem. A few months ago it was time to pay for the cable subscription. However I did, the signal never came up. So I called the customer services and asked why. Agent: "Asl el batches keteera awy 3andy. Kol sana wenta tayeb ba2a yafandem!" What the hell am I "tayeb" for on June. Even the electricity guy, he knocks on my door every month with the bill and he's like "kol sana wenta tayeb ya beih!" 3ala eh bezapt, our monthly anniversary?

So to sum up. WHAT THE HELL. Does people just say "kol sana wenta tayeb" whenever expecting you to forgive them or give them tips? Hell, even Amr Diab sang a bad song and called it "Kol Sana Ba2a Wenta Tayeb!"

Buying a ticket to the grave

2006-08-23T14:29:00.000+03:00

Egypt, Qalyoub: Hossneya woke up early around 7 to prepare the breakfast for her husband Sa'id. In the small residence infront of the railway, street sellers started calling for housewives to purchase their products. It was a normal sunny day, and residents got used to the noise of passing trains. Hossneya looked out the window and saw a train slowing down infront of her house, she took a look and up in the horizon there was another train coming, she said "probably they're going to stop." 7:10 am, the Mansoura train was approaching fast and the Banha train was still revving gaining as much speed as possible to avoid or minimize the impact. 7:15 am the two trains collided leaving behind the worst train crash in Egyptian history where 58 died. (please note that the invidivuals in this story are fictional but the train accident is real)

BBC news agency has compiled a history of Egyptian Train accidents and they are as follows:

November 1999: A train travelling between Cairo and Alexandria hit a truck and derailed, killing 10 and injuring seven.

April 1999: At least 10 people died and nearly 50 were injured in northern Egypt after a head-on collision between trains.

October 1998: About 50 people were killed and more than 80 injured in a derailment just south of Alexandria. The train failed to stop at buffers and ran into a busy market square. Reports suggested that passengers travelling on the roof of the train may have tampered with an air pipe, disabling the brakes.

February 1997: At least 11 people died after a collision caused by human error and a signalling failure north of Aswan.

February 1996: A train hit a lorry on level crossing 90km north of Cairo, killing 11 people.

December 1995: A train rammed into the back of another in thick fog, killing 75 people. The driver was blamed after an inquiry found that the train was travelling well above the speed limit.

May 1995: Nine people died after a train hit a barrier just north of Cairo and derailed.

April 1995: A train and a bus collided on a level crossing in the Nile Delta, killing 49.

December 1993: At least 12 people died and 60 were injured when two trains collided head-on about 90km north of Cairo.

February 1992: A head-on train collision just outside Cairo killed 43 people.

Till when are people going to die in vain? Till when will recklessness take our lives and control our doings. why doesn't the Egyptian citizen have a right be a human being? The problem is management, i think they should appoint a good head of the railroad transportation systems. Track maintenance should be done regularly and trains should be checked before each trip to ensure that brakes and other mechanical instruments are working and are in a good condition. The driver should be well trained to respond to various emergency situations, he should separate personal life from his job, emotions has nothing to do with trains. At the time of emergencies no one should try to be a hero, everyone should follow the instructions. Another important point is, life is not cheap just because Allah gave us life without asking us to pay for it doesn't mean we should waste it or waste Others' lives. In the end i would like those who view the blog to pray for those who died in the train accident to end up in Al-janna and us all amin....

"3ayesh fe 3'orba bas mesh me3'tereb"...3'areeb 3ala ard beladi...

2006-08-22T20:55:00.000+03:00

"Edaya fe geyoubi we albi tereb, 3ayesh fe 3'orba bas mesh me3'tereb" sang Nubian pop star Mohamed Mounir

"My hands are in my pockets and my heart is chanting, i'm living like a stranger but i'm not away from home"

I thought about this verse from the song and i came up with one aspect:
1- being a stranger in your own country

When i was young, i thought a stranger was a person who you don't know at all and just comes out of nowhere... but that's not necessarily it, a stranger could be someone who's not from your country. just to move away from the kindergarten talk about who you should and shouldn't talk to, pretend that you are a stranger for a minute. You go out from the hotel, you ride a taxi and you just watch how life is going on in Cairo, Egyptian society would be different, alien and confusing because you're not used to it. What if you're an Egyptian, nurtured on the land and to an extent aware of how things go in society, you wake up one day you go out and you're lost, you don't know where are you anymore, who are these people? questions, questions and more questions. I've been going back from college to home in Ramadan and it was very crowded and hot the normal in tahrir square where college is.... took a peek outside the front window and saw this man talking to a microbus' driver 4 minutes later it was a street fight just like in video games... punching...kicking... and the driver who started it was getting his belt to hit others... all this on the day of Ramadan where all Muslims try to stay away from sins and wrong doings as much as possible...the second thing that caught my attention was that no pedestrian ever moved a limb to stop the fight nor the car drivers, no one did anything....people just moved on like nothing is going on.. where were the egyptians at this time? where did the morals go? i was like dude, where's my country just like Michael Moore's book title. I go out and i just find things that were never there before; people screaming at each other like there's no tomorrow, parents holding their kids in a way that exposes them to the road jeopordizing their life, people returning good treatment with bad one, etc. somebody would say that this is life, well yea but it is normal to find the good and the bad in life, so far i've only seen the bad... the problem is unethical behavior is spreading more than ethical one. Those who were raised to abide by religion, ethics and morality will often feel like strangers. When i posted "Egypt at the bottom of the bottle" i missed one point, the girl who was photographed really didn't think that this is egypt and those are the people, she was shocked. What is going on i really don't know whether people are after the money so they step over each other...or they just do it because they weren't raised to respect others. It is strange to walk down the road, look around and say i must have lost my way. Negativities surpass positivites making life in Egypt a rather daunting experience.

Gift idea { read if you're crazy :-) }

2006-08-20T13:27:00.000+03:00

Figured out that the blog has been too serious for the past couple of days, so i thought about posting this gift idea (after that one you won't have any cash for another birthday :-) that struck my mind.... if its an anniversary or a birthday here's what you need to do guys (Egyptian Residents or foreigners residing in Egypt)and trust me YOU NEED MONEY

1- 3 days before the birthday or the anniversary you need to go to some nice restaurant on the nile (preferably on nile city or Apple bees)
2- you need to book a table that overlooks the nile and you have to make sure that the nile is visible
3- you need to go the felouka guys and rent a felouka on the birthday day and you should tell him that you need an electric plug for a certain thing that you'll attach to the felouka
4- you'll go to some nice carpenter and ask him to make you a large heart shape made out of thin wood (Ablakash) you'll spray it with pink or red spray what ever you find appealing and attach light tubes to the borders of the heart.
5- you go to the felouka attach the heart on it where its visible and plug in the light so that the heart lights up
6- you call your girlfriend or fiance and ask her to go to apple bees and ask for the table that is booked with your name and then you ask her to give you a call when she finally sits.
7- you get your gift (a box filled with whatever you want; mugs, a nice trendy watch, perfume, teddies, whatever comes to your mind)
8- get on the felouka and light up the heart (it should be big enough to be seen)
9- you ask the felouka guy to take you to apple bees luckily there's an open space infront of it so he can nearly bring the felouka to a halt you ask your girlfriend to look outside and there you are with the big shaped heart and a gift box :)
10 you ask the felouka guy to moor the boat and you get off and get in, once you get in the waiter in the restaurent gets the cake and you start singing to her happy birthday, then you secretly send a message to her friends (who already know that you have a plan and ask them to comeover)

that's it, it is crazy but it is nice hope you don't go bankrupt

lets say you need a felouka for 30 minutes (about 40 pounds maybe less)
the wooden heart (will cost you less than 20 and the carpenter might even do it for you for free, but you have to get the wood, if you can't just ask him to get it for you.
gift box (depends on what you want to get her, probably lets say 600 as a maximum price, maybe more if you want to amaze her)
the restaurant lets say about 500

What's On Your Mind?

2006-08-20T06:35:00.000+03:00

Do you have an idea for a topic? You think we could discuss more important issues? Do you have any suggestions? Please send us all your suggestions at theusher.feedback@gmail.com. Thank You

The Story of the person I used to know (read if you have time):

2006-08-19T13:47:00.000+03:00

Silent, shy and sensitive that's how the person I used to know was. As a kid, he was very attached to his parents, who wasn't? He felt like survival is hard without them.
He used to go this school where he had his friends but something wrong happened and one of the parents started giving bad images about him and his brother so they had to leave the school and go to another school, the first day in his new school he was standing with his father and when the bell rang, he cried out loud "don't leave me pa" he spent the whole week Sunday to Thursday crying for no specific reason, maybe it was fear of the new school. His grandpa died when he was young, I remember him having this Lego toy to play with on the day he finished his primary school exams, he went back home saw his mom hold the phone and cry, he was shocked he didn't understand what's going on. Even when he went to his grandfather's house and saw everyone crying, he didn't understand what it means to lose someone, life/ death two words that were hard for him to understand at such an age. The kid grew old and his parents decided that he has to go to an American school because it will be easier than Thanawiya Amma. The irony is he didn't cry in the American school, it was ok with him and he started making friends that's when he met two guys, Y.S and M.A, he felt like there was something different about those two guys, they didn't conform to what the whole school was conforming to, simply they were just themselves.

The guy I used to know was funny; he found pleasure in making his friends and those who are around laugh. Friendship started growing fast just like a plant. The guy dated this girl in school that he might have never loved, he dated her because her friends tempted him to do so, he felt so embarrassed and he had to date her. I don't think he really liked her, she wasn't his type maybe but it soon ended because there was a clash of thoughts, or maybe he felt that he made the wrong choice or let's say listened to her friends a little too much. All that was in the last year of high school, I jumped the years cause there are some details that are unimportant. There came the graduation day, he took his certificates and headed towards college. College wasn't easy for him, it’s a new life, he has to make new friends and adapt.

I have to state that he had two best friends that he had since primary 3. In the first year of college he dated another girl who he didn't know at all, his best friend told him "come on lets hang out today" that's when he saw the girl he wasn't attracted to her or anything but they dated. It was the worst mistake he did in his life, again the girl wasn't his type, she was older and decency was a bit below average. One day in Ramadan he refused to breakfast because he had a fight with this girl, his father came into the room closed the door and said "if you date this girl because you hug and kiss, then no you have to wakeup" he was affected by those words and cried, maybe he didn't hug and kiss but those words affected him he felt like he walked on the wrong road despite all the warnings. He was annoyed because his best friend and the one who introduced him to this girl never advised him about it. This best friend knew the girl and how she was but never told the guy I knew anything. Some would say why he didn't see for himself, I guess the answer is he was blinded. It all ended, and at the second year he met this girl, she was ideal, decent, and respectful but she also knew his best friend. One day he came back from a trip somewhere in the red sea, he was invited to his best friend's birthday where he met the girl for the first time. Unfortunately the girl was there because there was a plan that his best friend had in mind "his best friend wanted to know from this girl why her friend broke up with him" and this best friend asked the guy I know not to speak about it or say anything. The birthday went on and the guy I know never sat with the girl he dated he just greeted her and sat with some other friends on a different table, giving space to his best friend to do whatever he wants. Later on, the guy I know asked his best friend to stop whatever is on his mind because he likes this girl. He met her a lot of times in Maadi, told her that he likes someone but he's afraid of losing her, the girl kept on asking who and he said "I'll tell you when you come back from the states" its been 10 days and when he met her, he said "you're the girl" they dated and he wasn't good. He never called, he met her rarely and it was weird, was it because he felt like again this girl wasn't his choice but she was also a suggestion from his best friend? Or was it because he didn't understand what it means to be in a relationship. It also ended and then came the big shock of his life, his best friends weren't his best friends, their friendship ended and backstabbing started. After that he learned a lot of lessons and changed into a totally new person.

He stopped dating and said only if it is serious and will end up with marriage. The third year in Ramadan his father called him and said "son, go to your grandmother and breakfast there ok?" and he did without question he didn't suspect anything. He went ate and sat after the Iftar watching TV that's when his aunt (father's sister) came and said your mother's brother (uncle) died today. It was weird, he didn't spill a tear, maybe cause he hasn't seen his uncle for 15 years but when he came back home he cried in the bathroom where no one can see him. Fall semester of 2005 ended and there came the winter holiday. He received a call from his grandmother (father's mother) she called him from the hospital she said she fell and broke her bones. He went to the hospital checked her out and they said that she has to do an operation and then she'll be ok. Then one day she couldn't breath and they had to transfer her to the intensive care. She went out of the intensive care and the doctor said she could go home but a nurse has to be with her. February was the time of the guy's birthday and he said I'll go to grandma on Friday to see how it is going. Friday morning he went with his mother to his grandma's house to check how are things, he found all of his relatives which felt kind of wrong. They said the guy's grandmother was tired and she had to go to the hospital, he kept waiting in the balcony for the ambulance to come and when it came the nurse looked at the grand parent and asked the two paramedics to return the grandparent to her bed. That's when tears of every woman and child started to fall down. The guy went in and took a look at his grand parent but she was staring, she didn't blink. He felt kind of weird and went outside that's when she died. All were crying and he heard the call for prayer he felt like he wanted to pray and tears fell like rain..a couple of month later his mom's mother died and then later on he started to regain the smile. The story is not for reader's to be depressed but just to say "you're not alone" sadness strikes a lot of people's heart all we have to do is be patient just like the guy I used to know did. His life is not always black; he has his happy moments just like we all do. You have to know that whatever mishaps that happen to you are for a reason, you have to learn and understand, things that don't break us make us. I hope this story wasn't too much.thanks for reading

AA and NA

2006-08-19T01:01:00.000+03:00

Hey you! Yes I am talking about you, leave that bottle, don't drink just listen to me, look at your friends, kids (if you have ones), and parents do you think they're happy when you waste your life on alcohol? The answer is NO they're not, you're sticking knives in their flesh without knowing..so you want to do something about it? I see you nodding "yes I want" call an AA center and get this problem dealt with NOW!! You're probably searching the internet for what AA and NA stand for, well AA is Alcoholic Anonymous and NA is Narcotics Anonymous both are programs that help alcoholics and drug addicts solve their addiction problems and basically they both involve 12 important steps and they are as follows:

The 12 Steps:
1. We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

For Egyptian residents or Foreigners residing in Egypt there are AA and NA meetings at those times and places:

AA:

Monday, 8:00 pm,
Kasr el maadi hospital on the courniche;
Step Study

Wednesday, 6:00 pm,
Downtown, Near Meedan al-tahrir @ 13 Mariette Basha Street, 3rd floor, apt. 11

Wednesday, 8:00 pm,
Kasr el Maadi Hospital on the courniche;
Candle light

Thursday, 8:00 pm,
Kasr el Maadi Hospital on the Courniche;
Big Book Study.

Saturday, 8:00 pm,
The Swiss Club, Embaba;
Big Book Study.

Sunday, 8 pm,
The Swiss Club, Embaba.

NA:
everyday from 6 to 7 pm at Karitas Building, next to maaroof street, downtown.

For Individuals outside of Egypt please check online for your nearest AA and NA program Centers and here are some links:

http://www.12step.org/steps/index.php
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org
http://www.na.org/

Special thanks to Remi for all the details.....

Don't place your life at the bottom of a bottle!

Our Dirty Little Secret

2006-08-17T04:30:00.000+03:00

On my first day in high school I made a mistake. That day I was starting to make new friends and basically adapting. I sat with one of my new friends (girl), and started having the usual small talk new friends have. She asked me about my nickname. Normally I was a little embarrassed to reveal it, but what the heck, I did.

Oh, but I was cautious, I made my self quite clear how my nickname should be a secret. The next morning I ran through the school director and he said "Good morning bobs!" Now that was just a nickname I use now everyday "thanks to her". But how about when it is not just a nickname? How about when it is a grave secret you cannot risk its outbreak?

Who has not been backstabbed by friend who went about and told his/her secret to everyone? I'll suppose that it is not a big number. But what is this. I'm writing this and I am angry and I am furious. Should we all live like the cains of our own generation and stick our chins on our shoulders watching our backs every moment?

The death of manhood and the rise of delinquency

2006-08-16T22:26:00.000+03:00

Cairo, Egypt 2 AM a so called (shella) sitting at a traditional coffee shop in downtown…..one of them passes the shisha to another one telling him there you go...when the guy refuses....they all look at him and say ....eh ya 7elwa aren't you a man yet? And they burst in laughter.

let us specially males ask ourselves who is a man? What are the characteristics of a man? Unfortunately by today's standards and peer group definitions a man is:

1- one who smokes shisha, cigarettes, and can do drugs if he wanted to.
2- one who screams out loud just to say "I'm here"
3- one who raises his voice above those who are older than him just to prove that he is man enough and has a tongue that he could speak with.
4- one who stays up late all night long and comes back in the morning to prove that he's a man and he can do what he wants.
and the list goes on

Well as a male I tried to define the word man in my point of view to me a man is:

1- one who knows how to respect others
2- one who controls anger
3- one who appreciates his parents so much that he can't raise his voice above theirs even if he is 46 years old and has kids.
4- one who knows how to be responsible (not responsible for going to a friend when he's in trouble which he should do without question, but what I mean by responsible is that he stands out and says I'm wrong it is my fault and I am ready for any punishment. He doesn't break down but learns well from the mistakes
5- when it comes to love, lets say he never loses his character and his strength as a man for his lover (not saying he should be an iceberg, but he should support the one he loves without losing his self respect).
6- one who could basically say NO at the right time and not give in to anything no matter what
7- one who doesn't follow anyone because he understands that he has to have his own road.

maybe that's not even close to what a man is but maybe we all should think well about ourselves and our actions, we should start saying that smoking a cigarette is a negative aspect and not a way of showing that we are men, Don't attach your manhood to a small stupid cylinder that keeps on shrinking, shrinking and ends up in the ashtray..thanks for reading guys

Basha, feenak yabni!!!!!

2006-08-16T00:24:00.000+03:00

This is a conversation between two friends (its not real, I just made it up to argue about something)

Caller 1: dude! I miss you a lot man, do you remember me?
Caller 2: hey man where are you? Asked about you a lot
Caller 1: always available man, enta eli mokhtafi (you're not there anymore)
Caller 2: well you know college wel 7ewarat….
Caller 1: yea yea, we're all through this crap…tell you this, I need a favor man, could you please do it for me
Caller 2: sure man hit me
Caller 1: (whatever favor that is)
Caller 2: sure bro I'll do that for you but we gotta meet man sometime
Caller 1: well yea man but you know el gam3a wel mozakra wel alsh .. fa it might be hard you know..

So this is what might look like a call between two friends who haven't met or talked for a long time, we see that obviously caller 1 would have never cared to call his friend without having something in mind and asking his friend to do it for him. We see that they obviously talk about meeting and catching up but they don't meet, why? One of them claims that college, studying etc are the reasons behind his narrow schedule. Today, we should all ask "do we have friends?" we shouldn't look at those companions who hang out with us and share a smile as "Friends" but rather as fellow class mates who share the fun. I know you all received those chain emails about what a friend is, but let's talk about what a friend is in a different way. A friend is someone you might share your lifetime with and be quite sure that your secrets are well kept, he sees how you live, and he knows when you're happy, sad, and cheerful and when you're even lying about your happiness. Well we are all humans, humans do mistakes and friends are humans, they are subject to mistakes but and please underline but, the time you spent with your friends makes you forget all their negative aspects and makes you thank Allah that they are there for you. I always thought friends were by numbers and not by characters, I thought that if you have a 100 friend you're like the star of the night. It turned out to be wrong, trust me even if you have 4 friends, that's enough because you know that your 4 friends wouldn't one day turn against you and backstab you, yes you fight, yes you hurt each other, but you never hold knives behind each other's backs and what's best of all you all admit that you were wrong and it gets resolved…..my purpose here is just for you guys to rethink about your friends and ask yourself:
1- Will they be there for me one day when I fall?

just don't wait till it is too late and think about who you go out with again and again (please note that I am not asking you to end everything with your mates, just know who is your friend and who you can keep your secrets with and never make the wrong choice)

............But Never Came Out!

2006-08-14T00:15:00.000+03:00

In Egypt, there is more than one controversy taking place at a time, controversial issues that might be political, social, religious, or of some other nature. The one I intend to discuss is of social nature. For years now there has been a major negative appraisal concerning education of foreign origins in Egypt, American and British to be more specific. The controversy concerning this matter was of moral and cultural interest. How can we let our children be educated by foreign hands and let their minds be infiltrated with unwelcome concepts?

I myself always opposed such thoughts and in my opinion ill-willed controversies that were driven by hatred and social jealousy. However, though the pin points of this matter were not aimed at being beneficial at some point, but were sometimes true. Students who went to these schools of foreign nature did exhibit many symptoms of much feared western mental infiltration. As for me, discussing this matter is absolutely justified as that I myself was a student at an American school. And I had many first hand observations that are the rock of my discussion here. Students going to these schools are good people, mostly well educated, well read, and of normal interests in life as anybody else. But, they were different; they were adopting different concepts and life philosophies. As I like to describe this, it's like they went to see an American movie in the theatre, but never came out!

The thing I must discuss here is the concept of relationships in a foreign school, any kind of a relationship for that matter. When I was first exposed to this world and observed the adopted philosophy of a relationship, I felt a strong change. Suddenly all the traditions, commons, and ethics of a Middle Eastern society were blown in the wind like a pile of dust. I am not saying that I were not familiar with the dating concept, but the over adjustment I found my peers showing to the matter was unmistakable. This is a different world. A world where greeting between male friends is considered homosexuality if surpassed the usual handshake. A world where smoking is considered "cool" and adding some "Hashish" to the roll is just double the fun. A world where fighting after school is the only way to show that you are a man. A world where girls freshen up every five minutes to catch some guys attentions and have no shame at all.

These were some of the features that this social slice exposed. May be people opposed it because it is different, I oppose it because it is wrong. However, the question is, is it that this social clique is just different and this is the way they act and they all met at the right place? Or is it that this right place was the reason these undeniable delinquencies surfaced in our society?

Honey, lets go to the bridge!!!

2006-08-13T19:22:00.000+03:00

On a nice night you drive or walk around the streets of Cairo, stop in the traffic and feel the heat, you come across some scenes. Away from the monuments, the Egyptian museum and the famous legendary pyramids there are the bridges. I never thought the bridges were a part of history but yea they are. They witnessed all the love stories, the riots, traffic jams etc. lets focus on the love stories, it is normal for the privileged to hang out in a café , nice trendy restaurant or even just cruise around in the car…but for a certain entity the bridge is like la plage, or marina in the northern coast. It is a place where they can wash away the day's stress. You often see families there with kids and the dad is fishing, but you would definitely see couples. It's not our problem whether they love each other or not, but the limitations between a boy and a girl is a huge problem that should be addressed. Basically, limitations are not set, and the relationship is open for surprises, you often see couples holding hands, hand on shoulders, etc. I am not here to judge people about what they do but isn't it ironic that our culture doesn't allow this but it still happens. I've heard a lot of views that this is a way for the couples to show that they love each other; well I'm still quite sure that there are other ways to show love not necessarily physical.

Speak Up !

2006-08-13T06:21:00.000+03:00

We would like to draw your attention to our new chatter box that we added to the sidebar. There you can chat with all the online visitors of The Usher and discuss our posts. There will be a session today at 06:00 GMT. Please be there. Sincerely Yours BoBs & K.Zein

Egypt at the bottom of a bottle!!!!

2006-08-10T18:00:00.000+03:00

Two days ago, i was just sitting enjoying some fine tunes when i received a call:
caller: hello i'm pissed
me: and why is that?
caller: i was sitting in a cafe with a couple of friends and some guy took photos of us.
me: why the hell would he do that?
caller: i don't know, i wasn't even wearing anything revealing!
me: so what did you do?
caller: i just called a friend of mine (male) and he talked to them and forced them to delete the photo.
in brief i told the caller "don't get pissed, just don't think its the first time"

well i have two questions to ask:
1- why do guys take photos of girls? (are they just not too good to have girlfriends so they're satisfying their bloody sick selves)
2- where did male-male, male-female respect go? (probably the nearest waste facility)

what is even more annoying is that you find a bunch of male dudes hanging around in a shopping mall, they take out their mobile phones, and they take photographs of veiled girls i mean what are they thinking?

Sony Mylo. PSP - 2!?!?!

2006-08-08T20:51:00.000+03:00

Sony has released yesterday their new media player Mylo. Mylo has video and audio playback with wifi conectivity and browser. It has 1 GB of flash memory and is retailed for $ 350.

Via Gizmodo

No Comment!!!

2006-07-21T22:29:00.000+03:00

Stand Still....Look Pretty!

2006-07-21T18:56:00.001+03:00

Of course of you are human you must have heard of Michelle Branch. She's a wonderful singer who has the most flexible voice ever. She sounds really good and she always brought new waves to country music. But now, she's bringing a Tsunami to country music. THE WERECKERS. Michelle teamed up with her former back up singer Jessica Harp to have the GIG, their new band, The Wreckers. Their newest album was just realeased "Stand Still, Look Pretty". It has so many tracks that just swoop you to the good ole country comfort. I recommend listening to "Leave The Pieces", really nice and works you up, also "Tennessee", "Crazy People", and "The Good Kind". You can buy their new album of Amazon.

Web Page: The Wreckers , My Space
Amazon: The Wreckers "Stand Still, Look Pretty"

Simpson: Get Yourself a Custom Made Song!

2006-07-20T06:07:00.000+03:00

Just this morning I was checking my home page Yahoo! and I found the weirdest news flash my eyes could catch. It was even weirder than Bush getting caught on tape. The headline said "get personal with Jessica Simpson", so I was like hell ya mo phat, I want dat. So I clicked to see what the hell is going on. And to cut the weird story short, it said that Yahoo music and Jessica Simpson's record company is offering you to download for just $1.99 a version of her song "A Public Affair" with your name in it. Of course I did not expect Jessica even if I paid her $1.99 million that she would let me download a song that says baby "7amada" or something. The deal is, there is a list of names from A to Z - of course all Alex and Judy and Mitchell -, you pick your name and buy the song. And there you go, you can go brag and say "Jessy" owed you some money so you made her write you a song. Hee.

Yahoo music! : Get Personal With Jessica Simpson

Who Cares !?!?

2006-07-20T05:25:00.000+03:00

My hair doesn't look good - then I can't go out. Umm, are they starring at my shirt, cause I also thought I should not wear this. What do you mean I can't raise my voice, I don't care what kind of hell dammned restaurant this is. WHO CARES? A big question. It is really weird how people would think and analyze things from other's perspectives. And accordingly they decide what is proper and what is not in the eyes of their community.

I came across this matter a little over a year ago. How many times did we see a woman screaming in the street with words like "ya lahwy" and we label her right away as "balady". How many times did we keep it in - all our problems and raging feelings and anger - because then if we don't "what would people say?". How many times did we see poeple grinding their anger under their teath because they don't want to make a scene. I guess a lot of times.

At least I saw it so many times. But then I started to think differently. Who said I am making a scene because I am raising my voice in the street "I mean I didn't invite no one to watch". And who said the man who sells veggies on cart is balady just because he says "heneh" and not "hena". Ever thought that there is actually a right for every person to express him self without a restraining order from every social oppinion.

However, I do not wish for my concept to be taken mistakenly. what I am talking about here is not defying the common laws of social obediance. Expressing your self does not mean you go to a black tie concert with capri shorts. But what I am talking about here is how members of the society labels its members and how these members oppress their behaviour fearing this labeling.

So what if I yelled for friend in the street just to express my energie. So what if i go out without shaving my ugly beard. I do not know, who cares.

P.S.

THIS POST HAS NO CONCLUSION AND IT IS OPEN FOR COMMENTS.

This Track Rocks, Listen Up!

2006-07-16T22:19:00.000+03:00


Yo Yo Yo ssup! dis is georgy "bling bling" bush. listen up! zip de zip zip..whoop da knife!

ARRRRd, PiRRRates AdoRRRe CaiRRRo!

2006-07-16T01:32:00.000+03:00

So I was watching this news channel a few days ago and I saw on the news tag at the bottom of the screen that a 15 year old kid who lives with his grand daddy got the latter arrested by the F.B.I. for downloading a Disney movie. And my reaction was like.."hahahahahhaha...MUhahahaha". As you know, Egypt is one of the media files piracy havens on the face of this earth. You can download a movie that did not hit the theatres yet and you're as safe as can be. The world of media piracy has evolved immensely through the past years from peer 2 peer programs (usually kazaa, or limewire) to the sweet sweet torrents. Torrents are files the you download containing the info about the whereabouts of the file you want, you open it by this program (BitComet). To find the torrents for the movie or song you wan you go to torrent sites such as TorrentSpy or mini nova for instance and you search there. So, I hope this was a good explanation. Enjoy!

It's The Only Possible Explanation!

2006-07-16T00:22:00.000+03:00


For the past 18 years of my life I witnessed one or two American Presidents but Bush was the weirdest. Lots and lots and lots and lots of mistakes. This video explains why Bush makes so many mistakes. It's the only good explanation.

A New Beginning

2006-07-12T20:56:00.000+03:00

Hello and welcome to my new blog "in vivo". Perhaps you might have come to see my old blog "da groove" which was basically a reviewal of mostly new movies and gadgets and so. However, this blog came to a dead end when I realized that all I did was reassemble already out there news into my own blog. That obviously did not work. Concerning my new blog, I decided to call it in vivo as that it would be direct and to the point, in vivo. However, funny enough, for the past almost three weeks I have been trying to figure out anything about css web designing in order to come up with a better executed blog. And then, when I was done, I had no clue what to publish on my blog. What I can tell you that it will be random, not based on anything specifically. I hope you like it.